A Place to Rest My Head
by The Black Robed Princess
Summary: May The Traveler finds herself in a strange new world. Be patient, the Mario stuff will come later :D
1. Chapter 1

It happed as it always did. May was gathering wood from the pile and turning toward the small farm house where she lived when she tripped. The wooden logs hit the ground with dull thuds, but May was swallowed whole.

The next thing she knew she had popped into existence about ten feet in the air in a new and unfamiliar dimension. Luckily it was a heavily wooded area, and the tree branches slowed her fall, albeit painfully. When May finally did reach the ground, she sat for a moment to nurse her bruises and take stock of her surroundings.

This particular dimension was oddly bright and colorful, but lacked a certain sense of detail that May couldn't quite put her finger on. The forest was also perfectly silent aside from what sounded like the movements of large animals in the distance. May sighed and stood up slowly. She was worried about being so seemingly far from civilization, but she knew it could have been far worse. Past experiences had taught her that dropping out of the air was not the best way to blend in with the locals, and being burned as a witch was not high on her list of priorities.

"Avoiding jail time would also be a good idea." She thought. She chuckled to herself for a minute. For someone who was supposedly suited for this kind of life, she had made a lot of mistakes, and only after three years did she feel remotely experienced. But then what could have prepared her for the life of a Traveler?


	2. Chapter 2

She had been sitting on her favorite bench outside her dorm in her home dimension when it had first happed three years ago. She had been listening to her iPod and contemplating the nature of depression. When she finally rose to return to a barely started paper, the world had spun, and she had passed into the place In Between. It was there where she had gotten an explanation.

The people of the In Between had told her that she was a Traveler, a person that was doomed to wander the dimensions until they found the place where they belonged by fulfilling some sort of contract/prophesy.

"But didn't I belong in my dimension?!?" She had asked hysterically.

"Yes, but apparently you belong somewhere else more."

So they had sent her on with only the clothes on her back and the cryptic curse that she would _wander until she found her love, and seen the marriage bed. Only then would she have a place to forever rest her head._

May shook her head. It was easier said than done, but it had seemed that she was getting closer. In the dimension that she has just left it had seemed that Jack, the village blacksmith, had been working up the courage to ask for her hand from her "grandparents", the kindly old couple that had taken her in. They had been so kind and patient, kinder than anyone had been in a long time. But then few people just take in random strangers. Life on their small farm had been hard, and life as the wife of a blacksmith would have been hard too. Still she had been content, and not being able to say goodbye to the old couple and thank them for all they had done for her. She had not really loved Jack, but she knew that he would have been good to her, and she hoped that her disappearance wouldn't hurt him too much.

But she knew that regrets wouldn't send her back and she had to concentrate on figuring out what to do now that she found herself in a new dimension. She looked around once more and decided that the only course of action was to pick a direction and walk, and so she did.

As she walked, she noticed that her once brown farm dress had become a much longer black dress. This didn't surprise May much, as her appearance would often change in the dimension shift so that she would blend in with the natives better, it was the one natural advantage she had upon entering a new dimension. In fact, she was more surprised that she hadn't changed more. However, it was clear that this new dress was not meant for travel in the forest.

In fact, it was while she was struggling with the long hem and the wide sleeves that they came upon her.

She only heard them at the last minute, and when she striated to see who or what it was she was met by the sight of a small troop of well armed and green skinned soldiers. May cast a glance her hand to confirm what she already knew. Her skin was peachy-pale.

"uh-oh"

Instinct took over, and just as the leader cried, "GET HER!" She began to run.


	3. Chapter 3

This is where the T rating comes from. Just a heads up :/

What happened next was so fast, yet to May it seemed as if time had slowed down. As May was hampered by her dress it didn't take long for her pursuers to close the gap of her short head start. The fastest of these green skinned men caught her by her forearm. May tried to pull herself away, but he yanked in the opposite direction and with a horrifying pop, her shoulder was dislocated. May didn't even have time to scream in pain before a second blow landed on her face and sent her flying, landing on her stomach.

The next blows were from the late comers who tore into her with their combat boots. May could have sworn she heard her ribs crack, but then again the pain was starting to distort her perceptions. But then there was a pause. May had a second to take a deep breath and hope that the worse was over.

Her hope was shattered, however, with the first stripe of pain across her back and crack of the bull whip. The forest echoed with her shrieks, until finally, the darkness of unconsciousness engulfed her.

When May finally did swim back to lucidity, her situation didn't seem to have improved. She was upright, and lashed to a wooden pole. Even turning her head to see her surroundings was painful, and when she tried to adjust her stance, fabric pulled away from drying blood, and she almost passed out again.

Somehow she managed to stay aware long enough to figure out that she was now alone, and at the top of a grassy hill that overlooked sprawling fields from where she was placed, with the forest behind her, at least as far as she could tell. She tried to focus on more detail, but her mind kept returning to the frustration of not being able to wipe the blood from her lip, and the fiery pain of her back and sides.

And so the blackness covered her again, but just before she passed out, she spotted movement in the distance.

Please R&R!

I would love some feedback, and I'm sorry that it's taking so long to get to the real meat of the story, but I do plan on making this pretty long so…


	4. Chapter 4

An orderly stopped him outside the door.

"Please your Highness, the doctor hates to be disturbed when he's stitching."

He growled in impatience, but nevertheless moved down the hallway, and lit a cigar; waiting. It would do no good to piss off the old goat.

When the translucent geezer did finally appear, he sent the orderly scurrying, and motioned the irate ruler and his cloud of smoke to approach.

"Well?"

"I've stitched up the deepest areas on her back, the rest I really can't do much for. I had her on half-mushroom, but I've upped it to full-mushroom, now that I don't have to worry about things healing too fast."

"That severe?" The King raised an eyebrow.

"Neither any individual or combined injury was life threatening, but the bastards that did this knew how to make it hurt. Without any help it's a long and painful recovery. It will be easier for her and for us this way."

The old doctor paused for a moment and looked at the ceiling before continuing, "They left her head alone though."

The King looked passed the doctor and into the ward. All he could see was a mass of brown hair and a pale arm hooked up to the IV. The arm was covered in huge black and blue bruises.

He dropped his stogie and ground it out with his heel, his blood boiling, and abruptly turned and left with what only can be described as a roar.

**xxx**

He had found her as they had left her, lashed to a pole just on the border of his lands. He could still see her as he and the border patrol had come over the hill, broken and covered in her own blood. But the doctor was right, they had left her face alone save for a swollen and bleeding lip. They had known what they were doing, what and who they were attacking. It was all for the sake of sending a message.

He could still feel her small frame in his arms as he lifted her to the lakitu that had flown her back to the castle.

So small

So fragile

He longed to send an appropriate reply.

He slowed his pace, and sighed. No, he was a monarch, and he couldn't bring more suffering to his people.

He would have to hope that harming a Traveler would have its own consequences.


	5. Chapter 5

I know I haven't posted in a while, but I'm a bit more inspired these days, so please R & R!

May woke slowly, her dream of floating on a cloud gradually shifting to the realization that she was lying in a large four poster bed. She lay there for a few moments, dazed.

"What happened? Where am I?"

All she could remember was the chase, and it's painful conclusion. She flinched at the memory, but then realized that she wasn't in any pain. She concentrated for a moment, and slowly twisted her midsection. Much to her relief all she felt was the aching pain of healing tissue.

By now her instincts picked up by years Traveling were kicking in, and she knew that answers to the mysteries of her rapid recovery and unknown location wouldn't answer themselves. She slowly sat up, a task that proved more difficult then she had anticipated. She felt both stiff and weak at the same time, as if she hadn't moved in a long time.

"Then again, that's probably the case." She thought to herself.

She then forced herself to scoot the edge of the bed and stood up. She took hold of one of the bed's posts and surveyed the room.

The room was circular, with two doors, and a large picture window with a place to sit. The room was just large enough to hold the furniture: the bed, a wardrobe, a vanity, and a full length mirror. The floor and walls were made from a dark grey stone, but it didn't feel oppressive of cold. In fact with the sun streaming through the window, it felt very safe and cozy.

May caught sight of herself in the full length mirror, and slowly approached for a closer look. She was rather surprised at what she saw. She looked almost exactly as she had when she had left home three years ago. Her strait brunette hair was longer now, and she did look older, but other than that she was the same. She felt so relieved and comforted, and for the first time, in what felt like a long time, her blue eyes lit up with her smile. She then chuckled to herself, remembering all the other times when she had found a stranger in the mirror.

"I did like the wings though; there really is nothing like flying." She mused.

This thought reminded her of her back, and she pulled the white chemise she was wearing and turned around to survey the damage.

May let out a gasp. She had figured there would still be evidence of the beating, but she knew when she saw the red stripes criss-crossing her back that they would be a permanent fixture. She had never considered herself particularly vain person, and yet…

She tore herself away from the mirror, she couldn't afford to indulge herself in this distraction; she had to find out what her situation was.

She was about to head to the window, but remembering her almost nudity, she changed course to the wardrobe. The wardrobe was empty, except for a long forest green dress and a woven belt, which May took and put on. The dress was obviously made for someone much larger than May was, but she managed to lace up the top, so that it at least would stay on, and rolled up the skirt and belted it so she wouldn't trip.

She once again turned her attention to the window.

"Maybe I can least get an idea of where I am."

She saw that she was very high up, above what looked like a garden with a hedge maze. Further on she could make out a wall and gate with rolling hills beyond. She couldn't see the forest she had arrived in though. As far as she could tell the whole structure she found herself in was quite large and made of the grey stone of her room.

"It looks like a castle!" She thought.

That worried her. If the people of the castle were local royalty, there would be a lot of questions to answer, and she was still really bad at coming up with explanations for who she was and where she came from. There was always some hole in the story that found its way to the light. She might have to just fake amnesia again. She sighed. At the very least this new dimension seemed very beautiful.

She then turned and tried both of the doors. One was a small bathroom, with the happy surprise of indoor plumbing, something that she had severely missed. The other door opened to a short hall with a staircase leading down on the far end.

She looked back into the room, took a deep breath and stepped out into the hall.

Someone asked me if May is actually princess peach, but she is just an original character. I made some mentions of her appearance to clear that up a little bit.

Thanks so much for reading! I'll have the next chapter up soon hopefully.


	6. Chapter 6

Back again! Please R & R!

May slowly made her way down the hall and down the spiral stair case that she found at the end of it. By the time she reached the bottom she was noticing some unusual things.

For one thing the stones under her bare feet were slightly warm. Even if this civilization was advanced enough for indoor heating, why would the floors be heated?

For another thing, the architecture suggested that this place had been made for people larger than she was. The ceilings were unnaturally high, even if this was a castle, and the halls were quite wide with paintings on the walls hung just a little too high for her to observe comfortably.

What made this even odder was that the inhabitants seem significantly shorter than her. She caught sight of one as she walked on heading down and further in.

She heard the footsteps and in a moment of paranoia, she ducked into a doorway and pressed herself into little alcove as much as she could. Whoever it was in a hurry it seemed, and passed her little hiding place without noticing her. But even after they had passed, May stood there a moment in confusion.

The person she had just seen, was not only much shorter than her current environment suggested, but a deep chocolate color, unproportionally large feet, and as far as she could tell, no arms.

As May continued on her way through the castle she began to panic, the more she thought about it. Why hadn't she changed to fit into this world? It was the one natural defense of the traveler, to blend in at least in appearance. She wasn't green like the men in the forest, and she certainly didn't look like the person who had passed her in the hall.

By the time she reached the lower floors she had worked herself into a state of panic and, upon hearing footsteps once again, she opened the closest door and ducked in. She knew she was being silly, and just delaying some sort of inevitability, but she just was not ready to face it. She was considering trying to find her way back to the room where she had woken, but looking around the room she noticed a grand piano at the far end, and relieved by the sight of something familiar, she moved toward it.

Aside from the piano, the room was empty. But with when she sat down on the bench, the sun was streaming in onto her back she felt her panic drain away.

May didn't know how to play the piano, but she loved to just push random keys and try to make some semblance of a melody. After a few minutes she was completely lost in an aimless tune. She could have gone on forever in that peaceful room, but she suddenly heard the door, from which she had entered, open.

May scooted to the edge of the bench and peeked to see who had found her. She couldn't help it; she let out a little gasp.

He was huge, at least seven feet tall and well built. He was dressed in a deep green suit that contrasted vastly with his yellow skin, which also seemed to be scaly. His longish hair was bright red, and his eyes where a strange orange color and had what she could only describe as a lizard like shape. He too seemed surprised, and for a moment both just sat and stared at each other.

But after a moment he regained his composure and moving towards her, offered his hand in greeting.

"I see you're awake."He said, "We were worried you wouldn't be able to move to well after your ordeal."

May accepted his massive hand and replied, "No, I'm just a little stiff." And then, with an unexpected blush, "Thank you for taking care of me."

"Don't thank me until we find those scumbags who are responsible for it." He replied as he turned to the windows with an angry look. There was a pause, and then he said, "I'm sorry but what is your name?"

"It's May, Sir."

He flinched at the "sir" and quickly said, "I'm sorry, how rude of me. My name is Bowser, welcome to my castle."


	7. Chapter 7

There was a short awkward pause before May said,

"Well at least let me thank you for your hospitality. I'm new to this area, and I don't know what I would have done without your kindness."

Bowser chuckled.

"I'm sure that under different circumstances you would have been just fine. I've never heard of an uncreative traveler before. You would have found a way."

May's jaw dropped.

"Y… you… know about travelers?"

"Of course, most people do here. Is that odd?"

"I… I've never met anyone who did and wasn't a traveler themselves…"

May's mind was whirling. It was as if a bolder had been lifted off her shoulders, and yet she had so many questions. But when she tried to ask them all nothing came out. But eventually she did manage to choke out, "Then why did those men attack me on sight?"

Bowser sighed, "Now that is long story."

It was just at that moment that May's stomach let out a loud gurgle, and she winced in embarrassment.

"How inconsiderate of me! You must be starving! Only natural after three days I suppose…" said Bowser

"Three days?"

"Well, yes."

All this was proving to be a bit much for May. She began to stand, but swayed with the combination of hunger, stiffness, confusion, and growing fatigue. But before she could collapse back onto the piano bench, Bowser had strode over and swept her into his arms before she even had a chance to let out a squeak of surprise.

"First order of business: get you some food." He said with a smirk.

Before May could protest, Bowser's long strides quickly took them from the empty piano room into the large corridors of the castle. May was at a total loss for words as He carried her down several flights of stairs at a pace that was so fast she was a bit motion sick, despite having an empty stomach, when he finally came to a stop and set her in a high backed chair at the head of a long table.

The table was a bit too high, but no uncomfortably so. May tried to sit strait up take in her surroundings, but found that this was too painful and relaxed against the back and turned to look at her enormous host, who had taken a seat to her left.

"I… I just don't understand…" Said May, as she tried to prioritize all the questions that had.

"Eat first." Said Bowser firmly.

At that moment another one of the little chocolate colored persons came through a swinging door off the right carrying a steaming platter of toast and what appeared to be hash browns on its head. He came right up to May's side and placed the platter on the table with surprising grace, considering his apparent lack of limbs. May tried to give an appreciative smile, but it probably came out more like a grimace. The little person didn't seem to mind however, and with a little bow it strode out the door it had entered from.

"The Doc said nothing too exciting, but this should at least fill you up." Bowser said.

May didn't reply, but instead began to eat hungrily. The toast was wonderfully delicious in its familiarity. The hash browns were also delicious, but May was pretty sure that they were not potatoes. Something like a bready carrot; it was odd, but good.

As May filled up and slowed down, she began to feel very sleepy as well. She struggled against it though, and tried to ask a question.

"Have a lot of Travelers come here? And how did they come to be so open about it?"

Bowser smiled as May suppressed a yawn and said, "I'm not sure what constitutes a lot of Travelers, but at three have had a substantial impact on our history in the last three hundred years. And I suppose that it was natural that people asked where they came from and why they looked so different."

May, nodded and suppressed another yawn. "But what do you mean impact on your history?"

Bowser chuckled and said, "I'll tell you the whole story when you'll be able to stay awake for the whole thing, but for now you should rest."

May tried to protest. There was still so much she wanted to know. But once again Bowser had picked her up with no effort, and she found herself resting against his chest trying to stay awake.

In that twilight fog between wakefulness and sleep May was strangely aware of small details, like how despite looking scaly his hand felt like soft leather against her arm, and how all the portraits hanging in the walls had those same strange orange eyes.

She did wake up a bit more when he ducked his head into the room that she had originally woken in and set her gently on the large bed. He turned to leave, and just before he shut the door behind him, flashed a sharp toothy smile.

May wasn't sure how, but she did manage to untangle herself from the much too large dress, and slip on the white chemise, and crawl under the covers.

As she finally let herself drift off into a deep sleep, all she could think was, "Well, this is different."


End file.
